TwoTone's Series 1 '79 Golf L - On-going rebuild

Well where to start?
I tend to go on and on, so please bear with me!
I bought this off Kank (he's on here) from Bristol, it had been sat down a barn for 4 years, and not been used, it has just over 80,400 miles on the clock, which are genuine, as I have all the old MOT's to prove it etc.

I had been dying for another MK1 since I sold my GX in February, and this was exactly what I wanted!
My OLD MK1



Kank replaced both rear arches to a brilliant standard, and then replaced the whole front valance & crossmembers and some inner wing sections, but it still requires some welding which is being sorted in the next few weeks.

It's a Golf L, in Indianrot Red, 5 door with a beige interior, and keenly hidden under the bonnet is a MK2/3 1.3 Direct Injection engine from a Polo which runs real sweet!

I spend alot of my money on keeping my Beetle alive, so this will be done a relatively tight budget, until I can afford to do it properly in the winter later this year.

What have I done?

Well, as it was rolling around his workshop on castors, I bought some 13" Steels off WelshMk1 with tyres, and set about collecting it on the trailer, unfortunately during loading a few little dents in the rear panel below the boot were made, but will be properly sorted in the next week or two.

As the front was dis-assembled when I bought it, I've been putting it back together, lots of rust proofing, although I've run into a problem with the drivers side headlight section on the front, as the light won't fit properly, so may well end up re-welding some of it with a slam panel section cut out of a S1.

Both front doors locks were seized and wouldn't lock or unlock due to the catch inside being stuck solid, so I stripped both doors, the drivers side is all smooth now, but the passenger side still won't unlock.

I've been routing through the wiring, the front indicator wiring is botched, as is headlight wiring, i've fitted new headlight sockets etc, and am now getting a decent enough voltage, as before the terminals etc were so rusted, I was getting around 1.2V!
The alternator wiring had been literally ripped out, so remade the wire etc and fitted lovely clean terminals and is now working great!

Today, I got so tired of the insulation under the carpet being damp (from storage down the side of a barn), and the inside having a lot of debris, I stripped the interior out, all the carpets, removed and cut sections of the underlay that were too far gone, and started periodically cleaning all the carpets, under dash shelf, centre console etc, ready for tomorrow's hoovering and cleaning all the car inside and out! (It's very dusty)

What's the plan?

I want to get an MOT on it by the end of May (when my Beetle's insurance expires, so I can get a classic fleet policy!
I'm starting a new fulltime job on Monday, and it's my birthday the following weekend, so progress may be a bit slow for a week or two, I also have a '70 'sleeper' Beetle and my girlfriend's Beetle to work on.

Once this has an MOT, it will be driven along side my Beetle, and used for a short commute to work, i'm 99% that i'm moving to Cheltenham in September so may be doing a 70-80 mile commute, so may need to find a 5th gear, or an Audi engine.
In the winter, I'll be taking it off the road, and properly stripping it for detailing, a respray and a larger engine, and upgrading everything else i've done when I have more money!
I've always been a fan of stock-ish looking cars, and steels so the style for this is still undecided, this combined with my rather anal attitude towards cleaning everything, or rebuilding everything means this thread will go on and on..

I'll also be sticking with genuine VW parts/seals/rubbers etc where I can, and doing all this on a budget!

Bodywork & Welding
-Exterior body respray in June/July when my friend get's home from Uni
-Drivers side rear beam mount needs welding in (beam will be coming off for overhaul)
-Drivers side rear inside arch tub needs a section replacing
-Drivers side rear closing plate on the sill needs welding in
-Tyre well needs a small section replacing
-Passenger side doors need welding at the bottom or replacing
-Lower rear valance needs a section to join on both sides to rear arch
-Front valance/slam panel needs aligning/cutting/manipulating
-Front wings are repro, and since welding to the front etc fit terribly, as does the bonnet so need to sort that out too
-Fit some nice pressed B&W plates (not German)
-Considering fitting some spot's/fog's to the grill!

Electrics & Lighting
I've been testing all the electronics, and determined:
-Need a new front wiper motor (bought)
-Need a new hazard switch (bought)
-Need an ENTIRE Blower assembly as it's non-existent
-Need to fit the original small rear lights I have as the crystal style ones look terrible
-Headlight's reflectors are rusted, as is the whole light, so going to get some new ones
-Sort out front indicator wiring
-Rear light wiring is all the same colour, and severely chopped about, so needs a new section making
-Door light switch needs replacing

Interior
It has the original beige interior, but the passenger seat was killed by a battery eating through it..
The seat covers aren't in the best condition, but certainly livable until I can get them re-upholstered.
-Find a matching passenger seat or find a seat and recover with the matching beige covers I have
-Secure my S1 centre console in place, and find any missing dash parts (vent trim etc)
-Find & fit steering column surround, as my ignition wiring etc is too on show
-Fit various little trims & surrounds for the rear/boot section
-Fit a new matching parcel shelf, or fit some speakers to the horrific holes if it's too expensive
-Either fit a period head unit with AUX functionality, or go for a good ole' amp & phono to 3.5mm cable.

Brakes & Suspension
It's currently lowered (non-adjustable), I think by about 20-30mm, but will be going a bit lower on coilovers.
All these brake plans will be upgraded again later in the year when I have more money!
The rear beam is coming off, hopefully tomorrow when I start preparing for welding so:
-Rear brakes being completely rebuild
-Front brakes getting a 239mm GTI conversion (may need to change those 13" steels eh?)
-New flexi lines all round, and any hardlines that need replacing
-Fit coilovers when I can afford them
-Possibly a MC upgrade & servo upgrade, from a MK2

Engine
As I said, it's a 1.3 Direct Injection engine from a MK2/MK3 Polo, this will be staying fitted till later this year
-Find & fit rubber mounts to radiator, and plumb in
-Give engine a full service, change the cambelt, and fan belt
-Later this year, i'm thinking a nice engine upgrade from an Audi ***** (You'll have to wait and see)


Photos

How she looked when Kank bought her:













Then Kank started the welding work:













That's how I picked her up ^


Some proper pictures coming tomorrow, when I've finished cleaning out all the grime & washed the outside + removed the rear beam, but here's a few misc. pictures (Would you believe I haven't taken any proper pictures of it yet?):
The plates are going VVV I'm not a fan of the german plates, although I love pressed ones..








Thank you for reading, if you've got this far, and stay tuned for updates!
Cheers,
Alex

Really like this Alex, it's got character. I think it's number of doors and patchyness. Is that a word? Good to see the welding getting done first, I have some similar (less severe) problems but mangaed to ignore them for now  

By the way, you can run 239mm/VWII brakes under 13's no worries. What are those black wheels in the pictures from? They look like G60/Passat steels but smaller?

Cheers Clump
She's definitely has 'character'
Brilliant, that sounds like a plan with the GTI brakes! The whole front end problem is sort of baffling me a bit, I can't work out why the light or surround won't fit properly, i'm tempted to just chop it off and fit a brand new panel, although I may run into panel quality problems then…

They were ones the original owner kept, look like 13" G60 rims or something, but I don't know sorry.

Got to wait till pay day before I can buy anymore parts, but the radiator mounts have been purchased now, just a case of removing the rear suspension beam & hoovering out the bare inside now, which I plan on sorting tomorrow, before I start another shit job, joys.

Thanks for the comment, means a lot.
Alex

Update
Well.. I say update..
Waiting to hear back from a friend who's welder, as I had to sell my welder recently due to money, and have since been welder-less

After cleaning the windows of moss & other tree-related stains, I've now put together a list of stuff to buy on pay day later in the month!

Been inspecting the paint closer up, the lower half of the vehicle on both sides, and rear is bad, it's very very faded, it's been crudely blown over and rubbed back, so I've decided the lower half is now going to be black below the trim line!

The front valance is sprayed black (although I fear I may be chopping that out and sorting it properly..) and the rear lower valance on both sides needs a new section to meet the arch, so it's a perfect resolution for trying to blow in some of the same red paint, and getting it to look ok!

This is the exact same colour as mine, and has black, but IS NOT MY GOLF! Just so you can gauge how it would look:



Today I finished cleaning the inside, and started to rebuild the front interior area, with lower dash shelf etc, and with a nice clean carpet & underlay sections it looks good. Still need to work out how to fit the centre console, and if it's the correct one, if anyone knows what it's supposed to have?

Sorry for lack of pictures and interesting stuff,
Alex